A New Dream
by LovelyFandomLife
Summary: "If this isn't a dream, then what is it?" Rapunzel asked the boy with brown hair and glowing green eyes. "A new kind of dream," he replied, smiling to reveal razor sharp teeth. "You're mad," she said, becomeing steadily unsettled by this creature in front of her. The boy's smile only grew, now taking up half his face. "We're all mad here." {RotBTD, Big Four Alice in Wonderland!AU}


Rapunzel sat on the floor in her room, back against her bed post as she gazed hopefully out her window at the woods behind their new house. She'd just finished unpacking everything from the move, and was resting, lost in thought. Tomorrow was going to be her first day at her new high school, and the anticipation of it thundered in her heart and sang through her head. She and her parents had only recently moved to this city, telling her over and over that it was because of work, all the while asking if she was ok with it. She was, for the most part. Sure she was leaving behind everyone from her old school, but she knew she could make new friends. She had always been the friendly and open type, cheerfully introducing herself to any new stranger. Besides, the whole thing seemed like an adventure to her, with a new place, new house, and new people.

She was sure the only reason her parents kept asking if she was alright with the move was because it was part of their daily routine of doting on her. Ever since she had been kidnapped when she was little, her parents had always been constantly worrying over her. She'd gotten back to them fine, but the ordeal had definitely freaked them out, causing them to worry all the time about her. Not that they restricted her freedom or anything, they were very lenient in letting her explore and learn, but they just wanted to make sure that where ever she was, whatever happened, that she would know they were always there for her.

She was still gazing out of her window, thinking about all the different ways tomorrow could go well, when something white caught the corner of her eye. It was a boy, no older then six or seven, in a red vest and rabbit ears perched atop his head. What Rapunzel thought was strange was that the boy looked as if he was sneaking around, checking over his shoulder, and checking his watch. Wait a minute, just how many six year olds could read a watch? Another thing was, he was behind her house, lingering at the edge of the woods. How curious. With another check of his watch, the boy darted into the woods, apparently scared about something.

That was it, Rapunzel's curiosity was snared. She leapt to her feet, grabbing her purple coat to combat the chilly, fall weather, and sliding a black head band behind her ears to keep her ridiculously long, blonde hair out of her face. Rapunzel bolted down the stairs and out the back door, shouting to her parents that she'd be back soon.

The teen then ran into the woods, aiming for what she assumed was the same spot the kid had ran into a moment before. She waded through the brush, swatting away bare branches that scraped at her face and grabbed for her hair. Keeping an ear and eye out for the boy, she waded further and further into the woods behind her house. Honestly, she didn't think he'd be that hard to find, with how bright his vest had been.

She stopped suddenly in her wading into the wilderness, her ears straining. There it was, a voice. Or maybe... a few voices? What was going on here? Following her ears, Rapunzel eventually saw something ahead of her. A person, or... people? Honestly, it was hard to tell with the dense collection of trees and branches blocking her view. She could here the voice or voices from before, muttering something.

"Late, late...very late, indeed."

_Late for what? _Rapunzel wondered as she moved a little closer, hiding behind a tree trunk to get a better look. She could see the person now, talking to a tree. He was running his hands up and down the trunk, shifting through the dirt and roots, all the while muttering.

"Got to go, on the run, where is it, where is it?"

This stranger, whoever he was, perplexed the blonde teen. He must've been around twelve or thirteen and he wore the same vest and bunny ears as the boy she'd seen earlier. He had a brown satchel slung over his shoulder, and from what she could tell, looked very similar to the boy she'd watched run into the woods. What was he, a brother? Cousin, maybe? If that was so, where was the other boy? Surely the two had come into the woods to rendezvous for some game or adventure.

"Aha!"

Rapunzel was jerked out of her pondering by a shout from the boy. Apparently, he'd found what he'd been looking for. Just then, a rustling game from behind her. The blonde spun around, thinking it was the younger boy, only to find a white rabbit, sitting on a stump in front of her, its tiny rabbit nose twitching.

She gave a sigh before turning back around to see what the boy had found, only to find that he'd vanished. Where on Earth could he have gone? She'd only turned her back for a second, and he'd disappeared. She would've heard if he'd run off somewhere, the dry autumn leaves littering the forest floor leaving little ability for stealth. So he must be hiding, having figured out she'd been spying on him.

Rapunzel crept carefully towards the tree the boy had been talking to a few moments before. With a quick sidestep, she whipped around the trunk, expecting to find him hiding there. But there was nothing, the boy had simply vanished.

"How curious," Rapunzel muttered to herself.

She then began to inspect the tree itself. Her curiosity pulling her to find out what the boy had been looking for. She poked and prodded the bark, tugged at a few branches, wondering just what she was looking for. She was working her way down the tree, inspecting the branches and bark until she reached the bottom. Getting on her knees, Rapunzel began to shift through the dirt, determined to find out why that boy had been sneaking around in the woods.

She took a moment to lean back as she looked up at the tree, her foot pressing down on a protruding root that seemed to sink a few inches into the dirt. Rapunzel leaned forward, pushing her hands into the dirt in front of her, expecting to use them to help in pushing herself up. The blonde let out a little gasp as her hands just continued to sink into the dirt, as if it wasn't dirt at all, but quick sand. She tried to pull away, but her weight had already been shifted forward, and in a blink, the dirt was up to her wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Her head plunged through the dirt as she fell forward with a shriek, into the ground. And she was gone.


End file.
